The Dutchess County Jail on North Hamilton Street in Poughkeepsie. / Spencer Ainsley/Poughkeepsie Journal

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Poughkeepsie Journal

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A proposal to buy land next to the Dutchess County Jail is a potential solution to inmate overcrowding, which has plagued the county for decades, according to County Executive Marc Molinaro.

Molinaro has asked the Legislature to vote Monday to fund the $1.425 million purchase of 4.61 acres on Parker Avenue and North Hamilton Street in the City of Poughkeepsie — the James L. Taylor Manufacturing Co. site.

“If we are to realistically solve our inmate housing crisis and consider expansion of the Dutchess County Jail on its current site, this property acquisition is necessary,” Molinaro said in a written statement.

At a possible cost of up to $200 million, two potential fixes to jail overcrowding were studied recently under Molinaro’s administration:

• The expansion of the 292-bed facility at 150 North Hamilton St.

• Building a modern jail on the state-owned land of the former Hudson River Psychiatric Center.

The later proposal was abandoned when a private developer last month announced a purchase of the portion of the psychiatric center that borders Route 9 in Hyde Park.

Michael Burtis, Taylor Manufacturing’s owner and president, approached the county about selling its property for the jail expansion, according to Molinaro.

Burtis declined to comment to the Journal Thursday.

Burtis expects to expand operations at a site in the Town of Poughkeepsie, Molinaro said in his memo to the Legislature.

Taylor makes woodworking machinery for the furniture, kitchen cabinet and staircase industries. It has had a presence in the county since 1911.

City of Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik expressed disappointment with the deal.

“The city sold this property with the intention of economic development – expansion of jobs and business. … This is another piece of property that the county is going to take off the tax rolls,” he said.

The jail sits on a 7.84-acre lot at 150 North Hamilton St.

City of Poughkeepsie 5th Ward Councilwoman Ann Perry, a Democrat, lives across the street

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“That’s a limited space. If they have to expand again, where would they go?” she said.

Taylor owns three nearby parcels – 1.83 acres at 182 North Hamilton St. and 2.44 acres total at 108 and 104 Parker Ave., county land records show.

The property has been appraised by Leland T. Bookout Inc. at a value of $1.44 million, according to Molinaro. The purchase requires the county to borrow $1.3 million and use previously borrowed capital funds for the remainder.

Molinaro called this purchase “critical” to solving the county’s lack of jail space. He added, “no other viable property has been identified.”

County efforts to purchase the North Hamilton site date to the 1990s, according to the Journal archives. The Legislature in 1994 approved a resolution asking then-County Executive William Steinhaus to negotiate a land deal.

The county made an offer to buy the property a year later, but the deal was never finalized.

Years later, the City of Poughkeepsie approached Steinhaus about purchasing the North Hamilton parcel, but he responded the county was not interested in acquiring it. In November 2008, the city sold the land to Taylor Manufacturing for $112,000, according to Journal archives.

The current market value of 182 North Hamilton St., according to county land records, is $137,200, while 108 Parker Ave. — the property that houses buildings — is valued at $997,500.